Originally Posted by
BearX220
But -- the AS view of the world is something like the sheltered, parochial pre-merger CO view: you dig in at a couple of key markets, shut out the rest of the world, and tell yourself you're the bestest airline ever, darn it. ANC and SEA are to AS as IAH and EWR were to CO. Continental ended up non-competitive in that posture. Hate to think of what awaits AS in a similar posture.
Agree somewhat, but couldn't one argue that the VX acquisition is/was a pretty clear sign that AS isn't just hunkering down in ANC and SEA, and is instead looking to fill out along the west coast? I get that the VX move may have been largely defensive, etc etc, but I find it hard to totally believe that AS is just hiding in the PNW unless I imagine the VX deal never happened.
Airline mergers are messy things, so I imagine things will get worse for AS/VX before they (hopefully) get better. But I'm not sure what alternative AS had, with DL encroaching in SEA, B6 moving in elsewhere along the WC, WN expanding to HI (ok, maybe they didn't know this then but you have to imagine nobody else is sitting still), etc. So, I wish them the best.